What’s behind negative press at the Haddam Bulletin?

Candidate’s own newspaper slams her opponent

Published
7:55 pm EDT, Friday, November 1, 2013

HADDAM >> An article in a hometown newspaper critical of incumbent First Selectman Peter DeStefano has some town officials crying foul over the timing of the article — published and mailed to Haddam residents just days before elections.

But it’s the connection between the man who wrote the article, the Haddam Bulletin’s editor Ed Schwing, and the woman who is challenging DeStefano for his seat, Melissa Schlag, that’s got officials wondering what’s really behind the slam?

Schlag, the unaffiliated voter running as a Democrat against DeStefano, works for the paper.

Officials from the Republican Town Committee say the article, which was published Friday in the “Haddam Bulletin” takes aim at DeStefano’s approach to a proposed land deal. Schwing wrote that during a public hearing on the proposal held last February, DeStefano, who is running for a fifth term on Tuesday, didn’t allow residents to speak on the sale of the property, which for the past decade has been vacant. Schwing wrote that DeStefano appeared to try to rush through the meeting.

Reached by telephone Friday afternoon, DeStefano dismissed the newspaper’s accusations, saying the article was part of a “personal agenda” to discredit him. According to the paper’s website, Schlag assists in the production of the paper, writes articles and is in charge of page layouts.

That the newspaper where a candidate’s opponent works published an article critical of her opponent is clearly a conflict of interest, said Ed Munster, vice chairman of the Republican Town Committee. The vacant land, he said, has been “an issue and fiscal drain for the town for 15 years.”

Munster said the release of the article days before the elections speaks to what both Schwing and Schlag are trying to accomplish.